Louisville, Kentucky
| website = louisvilleky.gov | image_skyline = Louisville montage.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = From top: The Louisville downtown skyline at night, The Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville fireworks at Kentucky Derby Festival, Kentucky Derby, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Fourth Street Live! in Downtown, The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. | image_flag = Louisville Metro Flag.png | image_seal = 200px-Louisville Kentucky seal.png | image_map = Map of Kentucky highlighting Jefferson County.svg | mapsize = 250px | map_caption = Location in the Commonwealth of Kentucky | image_map1 = | mapsize1 = | map_caption1 = | pushpin_map =USA | pushpin_label = Louisville, Kentucky | pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States | coordinates_region = US-KY | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name = United States | subdivision_name1 = Kentucky | subdivision_name2 = Jefferson | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1778 | established_title2 = Incorporation | established_date2 = 1780 | named_for = King Louis XVI of France | government_type = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Greg Fischer (D) | established_date = | area_footnotes = | area_magnitude = 1 E9 | area_total_sq_mi = 399 | area_land_sq_mi = 385.09 | area_water_sq_mi = 13 | area_total_km2 = 1032 | area_land_km2 = 997.38 | area_water_km2 = 35 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_total = 746,906 (consolidated) 602,011 (balance) | population_metro = 1,440,607 | population_density_km2 = 743.0 | population_footnotes =See Location, nomenclature, population and ranking for explanation of consolidated vs. balance figures | timezone = EST | utc_offset = -5 | timezone_DST = EDT | utc_offset_DST = -4 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = 402XX | area_code = 502 | elevation_m = 142 | elevation_ft = 466 | latd = 38 |latm = 15 |latNS = N | longd = 85 |longm = 46 |longEW = W|coordinates_display=0 | blank_name = FIPS code | blank_info = 21-48000 | blank1_name = GNIS feature ID | blank1_info = 0509453 | blank2_name = Demonym | blank2_info = Louisvillian | footnotes = }} Louisville ( , or ) is a major city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's total consolidated population at the 2010 census was 741,096 (Louisville's balance total, 602,011, excludes semi-autonomous towns and is the population listed in most sources and national rankings). As of 2010, the Louisville metropolitan area (MSA) had a population of 1,307,647 ranking 42nd nationally. The metro area includes Louisville-Jefferson County and 12 surrounding counties, eight in Kentucky and four in Southern Indiana (see Geography below). The Louisville Combined Statistical Area, having a population of 1,451,564, includes the MSA, Hardin County and Larue County in Kentucky, and Scott County, Indiana. An important internal shipping port in the 19th century, Louisville today is best known as the location of the Kentucky Derby, the first of three annual thoroughbred horse races making up the Triple Crown. Location, nomenclature, population and ranking Louisville is southeasterly situated along the border between Kentucky and Indiana, the Ohio River, in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio. The Louisville metropolitan area is often referred to as Kentuckiana because it includes counties in Southern Indiana. A resident of Louisville is referred to as a Louisvillian. Although situated in a Southern state, Louisville is influenced by both Southern and Midwestern culture. It is sometimes referred to as either one of the northernmost Southern cities or as one of the southernmost Northern cities in the United States. The settlement that became the city of Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Louisville – Southern Indiana metropolitan area is considered part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis. On November 7, 2000, voters in Louisville and Jefferson County approved a referendum to merge into a consolidated city-county government named Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government (official long form) and Louisville Metro (official short form), which took effect January 6, 2003. As of the 2010 Census, Louisville in its consolidated form had a population of 741,096; in 2007, it was the 17th-largest city in the nation, and the balance had a population of 557,224 in 2008. The "balance" is a designation created by the Census Bureau to describe the portion of Louisville-Jefferson County that does not include any of the semi-independent separately incorporated places located within Louisvil